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Tower Hamlets · Local Plan · Policy

Policy.

The policies that actually decide outcomes in Tower Hamlets — how often each is cited in the officers' own reports, where it bites hardest, and who leans on it. The plan text is the rule; this is the behaviour.

1,750 citations1,157 reports parsedTower Hamlets Local Plan (adopted)
Tower Hamlets · policy map
Where policy is quoted most — by ward
Fewer ~0
More citations ~165
At a glance
1,750[1]
Total citations
across 1,157 officer reports
25%[1]
Citations on refusals
borough baseline — see the In refusals column
Tower Hamlets Local Pl[1]
Development plan
most-cited framework in reports
—
CIL (residential)
schedule not yet sourced
—
5-year land supply
position statement not yet sourced
Citations by policy — what gets invoked 🔒click a policy — reshapes the map
S.DH3 · Heritage and the historic environment
473
D.DH2 · Attractive streets, spaces and public realm
299
D.DH8 · Amenity
201
DH1
126
D.TR3 · Parking and permit-free development requirements
110
D.ES9 · Noise and vibration
106
D.TR4 · Sustainable delivery and servicing
65
D.MW3 · Waste collection facilities in new development
43
Full citation counts are subscriber dataSubscribe to see the counts →
What kind of ground gets cited[1]
Design & heritage29%
Amenity18%
Highways & transport12%
Sustainability4%
Other grounds37%

Grounds classified from each policy's own cited title. Click a slice — reshapes the map.

The policies that decide outcomes — Tower Hamlets

Every plan policy recurring in Tower Hamlets officer reports, ranked by how often it's cited. Click a policy for its full record — and the officer who leans on it most.

PolicyCitationsIn refusalsAppeal survivalCites it most
S.DH3 — Heritage and the historic environment47325% · 1.0×—subscriber data
D.DH8 — Amenity20132% · 1.3×—subscriber data
The full policy roster and per-policy officer breakdown are subscriber data.Subscribe to see all policies →

Citation counts from Tower Hamlets officer reports.[1] “In refusals” = share of a policy's citations that sit on refusals; × = that share against the borough average (needs 20+ citations). Appeal survival = of PINS appeal decisions citing the policy, the share dismissed (refusal held); a rate needs 5+ decisive appeals, fewer show the count. Methodology →

The borough framework

The development-plan documents Tower Hamlets officers actually cite, counted across parsed reports. CIL and land-supply figures aren't sourced yet and are shown as pending, not estimated.

Most cited
Tower Hamlets Local Plan (adopted)
1,528 report mentions
#2
Local guidance / SPD
158 report mentions
#3
Neighbourhood Plan
64 report mentions
The hierarchy
National — NPPFpage pending
Strategic — London Planpage pending
Local — Tower Hamlets plan →
What wins here — approval rate by application type[2]

Bar = volume · figure = approval rate, across Tower Hamlets's substantive decisions.

Full / major planning
79%
Conditions & amendments
97%
Listed building
88%
Lawful development
87%
Prior approval
100%
Grounds for refusal at committee[3]

Why the planning committee refuses applications, from 16 refusals in the loaded minutes. Committee refusals are relatively few — most decisions are settled by officers.

Transport Highway
7
Policy Conflict
5
Design Character
3
Land Use
3
Environmental
2
Amenity
2
Heritage Conservation
2
Housing Policy
1
Policies cited on refusal — borough-wide[4]

The policies most often cited on Tower Hamlets refusal notices — the official refusal side of the citation record above.

NPPF72×
policies D4 and HC1 of the London Plan (2021)46×
policies 7.4 and 7.6 of the London Plan (2016)34×
DH3 of the Tower Hamlets Local Plan 203132×
DH3 of the Tower Hamlets Local Plan (2020)31×
DH8 of the Tower Hamlets Local Plan 203128×
policies 7.4, 7.6 and 7.8 of the London Plan (2016)21×
policies D1, HC1, D4 of the London Plan (2021)18×
DH8 of the Tower Hamlets Local Plan (2020)17×
policy D6 of the London Plan (2021)14×

282 high-confidence refusal notices parsed for Tower Hamlets.

Sources & method
  1. [1]Policy citations, per-policy officer counts and ward citation counts — parsed from 1,210 published Tower Hamlets officer reports (delegated and committee), joined to the canonical application record for wards. Approvals included — refusal notices alone only show the refusal side.
  2. [2]Approval rate by application type — Tower Hamlets's substantive decision record. · methodology
  3. [3]Committee refusal grounds and committee-cited policies — published Tower Hamlets planning-committee minutes. · committee record
  4. [4]Borough-wide refusal-notice policy citations — decision-notice parsing (high-confidence notices only).
Methodology is published in full so every number is traceable to its primary source.